


Tookas

by kittensandcake



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Baby Ben Solo, Fluff, Just a whole lotta fluff, M/M, tookas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-04
Updated: 2017-07-04
Packaged: 2018-11-23 07:25:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11397837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kittensandcake/pseuds/kittensandcake
Summary: Ben's always had a knack for animals, and Kylo isn't much different.The brainchild of me and invadxrs when i mentioned how much i loved tookas and how ben 100% loved them too <3





	Tookas

The first few signs were fairly innocuous. A few dark and tabby coloured hairs on the sofa, on the hem of Leia’s robes and occasionally on the curtains. For all Leia knew, it was just Chewie shedding a little more than usual, and was actually thankful that the hairs were much finer and smaller than before. 

The scratch marks were small too, and seemed to stay within the confines of Ben’s room. He’d been practicing a lot more with the wooden sabre that Luke had given him a few weeks ago, so it wasn’t a leap to believe that he had simply been a little too vigorous with his training. 

But the tail that flicked back under his bed when she walked in one night, could not be ignored. Leia’s brow furrowed, just as Ben sat up in bed and stared right back at her, clutching at the tooka doll that Lando had gotten him just a few months ago. 

“Ben, what is that?” 

“Nothing.” He was so resolute, that Leia almost left it. If it hadn’t been for the little twitch of his lip that meant he was lying through his teeth. 

“Ben.” She folded her arms over her chest and stared, her eyes narrowed. Ben all but withered under the look, one small hand reaching out and patting at the bed. Without a degree of hesitation, a real tooka appeared as if from nowhere, clumsily jumping up onto the bed and flopping down besides Ben. It didn’t seem to be full grown, not yet, but even at this size it was just a few inches shy of being the same length as her son, yet it was still covered in battle scars that only a feral tooka could have acquired. Compared to the purple doll in Ben’s arms, it looked positively frightening.

Leia stared, before huffing and shaking her head. “No pets. I told you. Not until you’re older. It has to go.”

“She’s not a pet, mom,” Ben’s gaze was just as fierce as her own for a moment as he shuffled up onto his knees, wrapping his arms around the thing. Its glowing eyes closed for a moment, and Leia could hear it purring from here. “She was sick. I saw her limping around the back, she hurt her leg. Look,” He pointed, and sure enough there was a haphazard bandage wrapped around the thing's leg, which looked as though it had been just recently changed. And it hadn’t jumped up with the same grace that Leia would have expected from a full grown tooka. She pursed her lips, and Ben began to babble. 

“Just a few more days, promise mom, she just needs to heal her leg up then she can go, I’ve been buying her food packets and feeding her and letting her outside I just need her to stay a few more days, it’s all she needs, I saw what dad did to Chewie when he hurt his arm so I’m helping her please can I just-“ 

“She’s a wild creature, Ben,” Leia stepped back towards the door, opening it and standing with her arms folded. “You can’t keep her here, it’s not fair. She needs to be in the wild,”

“She wants to be here,” Ben wrapped his arms around the creature, just around its neck. Leia jolted towards Ben when the creature’s mouth opened, yet to her surprise it simply began to run its rough tongue over Ben’s arm, and despite the determined look on his face, he couldn’t help but twitch with laughter. It was ticklish, for him. Leia paused at that, and for a moment she just considered the creature. She couldn’t feel anything feral about it. It felt…contented. Sleepy. In pain from the leg, but it wasn’t in the forefront of its mind. It liked Ben. Kit. Protect. Leia met the creature’s eyes, and after a moment she relented. 

“Fine,” Leia sighed, shaking her head as a faint smile appeared on her lips. And Luke had been worried about his compassion. She’d never been terribly good at connecting with people either, that had always been Luke’s area of expertise. Leia could lead, but relating had always been a touch difficult for her. Ben didn’t seem to have that problem at all. “Fine. Five days. She looks strong, so then you can let her out. But she has to go back to the wild; unless they’re from a breeder, they’re normally feral.”

“She doesn’t like being outside.” Ben pouted, but he didn’t seem to be fighting her on it. He must have known the creature had to return to the wild, at least to an extent.

“It’s where she belongs,” Leia sighed and leaned down over him as he settled back into bed, careful this time not to dislodge the tooka from where it was resolutely pressed against Ben’s side, and moving the doll tooka just a touch closer to him. “But she has five days before then. If she comes to the back, we can leave a bit of nerf, or some more of those food packets, just until she has her strength back.” She kissed Ben’s forehead, walking back away towards the door. “I love you, Ben,” 

“Love you too mom,” Came the yawned response, and when Leia lowered the lights in the room she found herself staring right back at the glowing eyes of the tooka. It stared at her for a while, even as Leia shut the door, but she didn’t feel at all worried about leaving the wild creature in there with her son. If it had felt that way about her son, her kit, Leia didn’t need to worry about a thing.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sounds always signalled the start of Ben’s day. It was the gentle scratching, the mewing and the purring that came from the back door, starting around mid-morning. Whenever it started, it would cause Ben to bolt down the rest of his breakfast – much to Leia’s dismay – and leap up to the cupboard he had commandeered for his own reasons. Six bowls, and a large packet of food normally saved for domestic tookas. He’d bought himself, with his own credits, if he ignored the chip that Han had slid into his pocket when Leia wasn’t looking. Han had complained the most about their new ‘pests’, but Ben wasn’t fooled. He’d seen Han feeding them when he came back from the temple, and had even heard him talking gibberish to them. They liked Han, and he liked them, even if he pretended not to later.

They liked Ben even better. And this morning feeding had become a ritual of sorts, something that took precedence over everything else. Ben filled each bowl, and with them all teetering on a tray reserved just for this purpose, he pushed his back against the door pad and watched as it hissed open. Instantly the noises were louder, demanding mews and wails as he stepped through the mass of tookas at the door. These days, he counted twelve. After the first one – christened Meena - had left, she had come back daily for a bowl of food and some attention. Then, she had brought a friend, Toma. Then Deek, then Looga, and soon so many that Ben had taken to keeping a notebook with each new arrival, including a sketch and their name. 

Leia thought it was getting out of hand. 

“Come on, move, move, just-…” They swarmed around his ankles, patting at his feet and his legs, the more daring ones trying to jump up onto his shoulders. Meena always held that place, batting away any potential challengers and taking the spot for herself. When she’d first done it, Ben had almost fallen over. Now he was used to her. 

The moment the food bowls were done, the mews and sounds of complaint went silent, as they usually did. Ben could almost hear Leia and Han’s mutual sighs of relief, before he too sighed and set the tray just off to the side of the door, and stepped out onto the grass instead. Chandrila had the benefits of wide open spaces, and although most of Leia’s work took place in Coruscant, Ben was glad that they’d decided to stay for the time being. 

He flopped back onto the grass, cushioned by it, and stuck his hands under his head. The sun was warm, and in moments he was even warmer, with a weight creeping up his body and settling on his chest. Meena, purring so loudly he could feel the vibrations. Ben laughed and rubbed his fingers over her cheeks, watching as she leaned into him so heavily she rolled off of his side, just the tip of her tail twitching. It was always Meena who joined him first. Then it was the rest of them, full with food and water, some sitting by his side and others a few feet away, all of them quite happy to trust this strange boy. Ben had an idea of how they were all feeling, knowing when snarls and hisses were just petty squabbles over food instead of actual fights. Meena herself had been in several, which showed in the way she’d injured her leg before, and in the several nicks in her ear and across her nose. But she was still the gentlest creature ever, and put up with all that Ben could throw at her, especially when he had been younger and found great joy in grabbing her tail. Now he wouldn’t dream of such a thing, especially with her so peaceful and content at his side. 

This was how he would spend his free days, dozing in the sun with his collection of tookas, simply listening to them as he calmed his mind. It was the closest he got to meditation; but he preferred it with the tookas. They would chatter to themselves, purring and mewing, and their thoughts were simple to follow. It was just…nice. Often Ben would stay until night, when either Han or Leia would pick him up and bring him inside for dinner and bed. Later on, it was just Leia, when she could remember to leave her work. 

Of course Ben showed them all his own tooka. A present from Uncle Lando, a stuffed tooka coloured purple and orange. It was clearly a kid’s toy, as tookas tended to range from tabby to dark blue, but Ben loved it all the same. It was a bit ratty now, with one ear badly stitched back on. Han had done that years ago, after Ben had taken it outside to show it to the other tookas. It was a special occasion, in his eyes, finally showing his real ones the companion that had slept beside him for years. It was just coincidence that Meena had brought her kits over on the same day. She’d done it once or twice before, but now they were bigger she didn’t care so much for who saw them and who didn’t. It was one of these kits that had taken to Ben’s tooka immensely, rolling over and over with it while Ben laughed. Until he tried to take it back. They had tussled for a little, and when Ben eventually sat up, covered in dust and grass stains, the tooka’s ear was still in the kit’s mouth. Ben’s wails had brought both Leia out into the garden, their noise and bigness scattering the tookas like water onto a tile. He’d been taken inside, and when he came out the next day he was solemn, putting out food bowls before returning inside.

After three days, Ben was surprised one afternoon. It was just Meena outside, with her kit crouched at her feet, and as he looked at them both the kit dropped something orange from its mouth. The very tattered ear of the tooka doll. Ben had snatched it, quickly, and disappeared inside. 

The day after that, once Ben had set out the food bowls and checked the water, as he usually did, he returned inside for just a moment. When he came out, the purple doll was in his arms, and when he sat on the grass not one of the tookas approached him, for a little while. He watched as the kit walked out of the pack, sitting itself a foot away from Ben. He hugged the doll close for a moment, his brows knitted together. Only when the kit continued to sit did Ben loosen his grip somewhat, and then tentatively hold the toy out towards the kit. It sniffed it, before bumping its head against the plush fabric, and pushing past it to press its face into Ben’s chest. He laughed at the tickle of its whiskers, as Meena purred herself and curled up by his side. 

“Leia,” 

“What?” She looked up from her datapad, staring at Han who was leaning over the sink, looking out of the window. 

“Just…come look, okay? Look at it,” 

“What is it I’m looking at?” She got up from the table, standing by Han’s elbow and squinting against the bright sunlight of the outside. 

“Look at Ben,” He hummed, seeming only a touch confused by it all. “He’s real good with those things, isn’t he? Didn’t realise he’d gotten so many,” 

“You’re not here enough to see it.” It was a touch cold from Leia, even though she knew Han had some of his reasons. He at least had the decency to look sheepish.  
Leia stared out at the pile of tookas at the back of the garden, half in the shade and half out, with one arm and a shock of black hair the only signs that Ben was amongst them. They were all dozing in the afternoon heat, all piled up together. If it had been Coruscant, Leia would have been worried about fleas, and other parasites. Here…even if they were wild, they were much calmer than she’d anticipated. She hummed and nodded. 

“He is, isn’t he? So gentle, too,” 

“Yeah. Maybe we should have gotten him a pet,” Han scratched the top of his head. “But now he’s gone and gotten himself a pack of them. Might start giving him a few more credits, you know? He’s doing a great job,” 

“Yes. I think he’d like that.” Leia hummed, and for a moment she couldn’t help but smile, and lift her datapad to take a holo. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Finalizer was much, much colder than Chandrila ever was. Sometimes Kylo imagined that he could see his breath in front of him, and sometimes while he was working out he actually did. It then made sense that all the officers and the like wore so many layers, and for once his own pseudo uniform was actually a blessing instead of a curse. It was nice, keeping himself all wrapped up. Even if it never mimicked the warmth and comfort that his friends back on Chandrila had given him. Kylo scowled behind his mask, not wanting such a thought now. They had probably all died, now. At the very least, they’d stopped going to the house. He hadn’t been there in almost two decades, not since Luke had taken him away. The thoughts continued to come, and Kylo turned on his heel, leaving the bridge behind. It was only slightly warmer in his own quarters, where he had the access codes to alter the environment. His cloak came off first, then the belt, the surcoat.

He had just removed his mask, tugging it up over his head with a soft hiss, when he heard scrabbling in the corner of his room. Kylo froze, his eyes narrowing as he tried to pinpoint the sound. It was coming from under his bed. He set his helmet down, quietly for once, and cautiously made his way over to the bed. He dropped down to his knees, to his hands, and stared. When he saw bright eyes glaring back at him, Kylo almost leapt back, his own going wide. How did a tooka get on board? He stared, before holding out one hand, making soft, enticing noises to the creature. “Come on. Come out,” He hummed, watching as the glare softened into a cautious look, and then began moving towards him. When it moved into the light of the room, it was clear to see that it wasn’t a tooka. It was very similar; orange fur, bright green eyes, ears that flicked back and forth as it slunk from under his bed. But definitely not a tooka. 

“What are you?” He said to no-one in particular, his voice quiet as the creature sniffed his fingertips. She bumped her head into his hand, and Kylo sighed, sending welcoming thoughts her way. She rather liked that, and Kylo was more than happy to accept her into his lap, sat on the floor with the creature purring against his stomach, his black undershirt already covered in hair. She was very nice, whoever she was. 

Further inspection of the room showed a vent with the cover scratched off, which Kylo investigated while the creature curled about his shoulders. She was much smaller and lighter than Meena had ever been, and not much of a distraction while Kylo took the cover off and peered down the vent. The only connecting room was Hux’s. Could she be his? There were regulations against having pets, of any kind, but Kylo wasn’t surprised. Some Generals and the like had kept ysalamiri during the Clone Wars. This creature didn’t exactly have a real use, besides vermin perhaps, but she had to be cared for. She was hardly thin, after all.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kylo let himself into Hux’s quarters, shutting the door before the man could start ranting and raving and alert his presence to the rest of the ship. The man scowled, and stood behind his desk. 

“You had better have an incredibly good reason for being here, Ren.” His voice was clipped, that Coruscanti accent coming through even more strongly. It always did when he was pissed. 

Kylo opened his robes, pulling out the creature from where she had been quite happily curled around his neck. She hadn’t liked being covered with the cloak, but Kylo had explained that it was just for a short while. Irritatingly, she didn’t stay with him. With a pleased mew, she leaped from his arms, trotting over the floor and elegantly jumping up to Hux’s desk, pushing herself at his hand. He stared, before cautiously lifting one gloved hand and rubbing between her ears. 

“I see. And what is it you want in return?” 

Kylo blinked behind his mask, just shy of cocking his head. “What are you talking about?” 

“Clearly you took her for some malevolent reason, I’m sure. Blackmail at the slightest. So, what do you want?” Hux stared back at him, lowering himself back down into his seat and letting the creature curl itself in his lap. 

“She was in my quarters. Got through the ventilation shaft,” Kylo lifted one finger to point at Hux’s own vent, where lo and behold, the scratched cover was hanging from a single bolt. “She was cold. She felt the warmth from my quarters, and must have tried to get back.” He was quiet for a moment longer, before untucking something from his robe and holding it out, an older section of robe that he’d been forced to cut off a while ago but had never had the heart to get rid of. “I thought she could…have this. She was kneading my robes.” 

Hux was silent as he just looked at Kylo, and he stared for so long that eventually Kylo just scowled and dropped the piece of fabric, turning on his heel and heading for the door.  
“Wait.” 

Kylo did, his lips twitching as he turned his head. Hux had gotten up, the creature in his arms as he stepped around the front of his desk, bending to pick up the fabric. She reached for it instantly, claws sinking into the fabric and her back legs kicking at it. 

“Why does she like you so much?” 

Kylo felt himself smile. “I have a way with animals. Usually tookas, but…she seems similar,” 

Hux nodded once, curtly, and wet his lips. 

“Her name’s Millicent.” 

Kylo properly smiled then, and gave an inclination of his head. “She can visit me whenever she likes. Same to yourself, General.” 

She might not have been a tooka, but Millicent was the next best thing.


End file.
